Singapore’s Super Brunch: Asia’s Most Over-the-Top Sunday Brunch

The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore took Sunday brunch to new heights yesterday at its Super Brunch extravaganza, offering 400 guests more than 400 dishes and a slew of circus acts.

The seafood section was the busiest area of the brunch.

Diners lined up to gorge on 550 pounds of lobster; 1,500 Australian, French, and Japanese oysters; and Hamichi, king snapper, and octopus sashimi.

The menu also dabbled in molecular gastronomy. Tiny olive oil spheres were filled with infusions of saffron, carrot, and blackberry.

A 25-foot display was stocked with cheese end to end: hard, soft, blue, sheep, goat, cow. Some of the 130 cheeses included brescianella acquavite, abondance fermière, and bleu de gex.

But it was the endless supply of bubbly that was a big draw for many diners. The 400 guests that attended ripped through 308 bottles of Dom and Moët—served at a station, by roving staff tableside, or from mysterious gloved hands peeping out from behind red-velvet curtains. The price of such indulgence: S$228 (US$185) with unlimited Moët Chandon, or S$368 (US$300) with unlimited Dom Pérignon.

This giant hot dog was made from Serrano ham and black truffle. Weighing in at 66 pounds, and needing three chefs to lift it into place, the mega-wurst was steamed at 150 Fahrenheit for two-and-a-half hours, and proved to be one of the afternoon’s most popular photo subjects, at least of the food.

Servers dressed as circus acts provided a colorful tableau for the afternoon’s proceedings. The stiltwalker did the rounds greeting, serving, and smiling, ever receptive to photo-takers (we pity his back by the end of the day).

A member of the troupe holds a giant spoon laden with black squid ink seafood risotto balls. They're filled with scallops and dusted with parmesan cheese, and they sit on a bed of breadcrumbs.

Italian brass quintet Citta di Pizzoferrato Banda flew in for the brunch and kept the tempo lively, playing in the main lobby and roaming the dining rooms throughout the three-hour brunch. The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore’s executive chef, Massimo Pasquarelli, was the driving force behind the brunch and the band—he grew up in Pizzoferrato, in Italy’s Abruzzo region.

Finely shaved slivers of 36-month-old premium palette Iberico de Bellota appeared on many diners’ plates at some point during the meal. The morsels of ham were delightfully sweet.

It’s not easy to find good olives in Singapore. But the Ritz-Carlton found 14 bowls of them: Sicilian, Greek, some stuffed with Parmesan, or sundried tomato, others oiled with chili and herbs.

Small, custom-made plastic spheres contained artfully packaged salad green combinations (mache, micro cress, and red pepper or romaine, capsicum, cassis flowers, and tomato slices, for example). Guests chose the condiments—including pepquinos (mini watermelons), piquillo peppers, and herbs such as oyster leaves and succulence—and finally the dressing, which was all placed into the spheres. All that remained was the tossing, taken care of by the juggling chef.

The brunch was as much about the spectacle and fun as eating and drinking, ergo the photo booth kitted out with whimsical props like bright orange wigs, bunny ears, toy nunchaku, and multicolored fake-flower leis. Huat ah means “Be prosperous”.

You can’t go to the circus without getting a cup (or tub) of popcorn. The eight flavors on offer at Super Brunch were black truffle, caramel, cinnamon, cheese, natural, piment d’esplette, saffron, and salted butter.

…and trays of gianduja chocolate blocks, chocolate and hazelnut pralines, and nougat with chocolate, set up on tables that formed part of a costumed character’s skirt. One surprised guest, remarked, “The lady is a table, the table is a lady. What do I do?”